A hitchhiking critter found in an Auckland bathroom has been identified as a scorpion – most likely from Fiji – with similar incidents more common than some may think.
Yesterday, the discovery of the arachnid was shared on the Instagram page Lazy Susan, run by food and travel writer Anna King Shahab.
“Um ... we found a live scorpion in our bathroom in Auckland,” she wrote, alongside a video of the creature moving.
The scorpion, whose species was unconfirmed at the time, later died.
Shahab pondered if it had hitchhiked in luggage from warmer climates to “a much chillier Auckland”.
She estimated the critter must have survived four or more weeks since she had returned from a recent international trip.
Scorpion confirmed
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) sent an expert to collect a sample for testing.
This afternoon, MPI Biosecurity New Zealand’s manager for plant health incursion investigation, Dr Carolyn Bleach, revealed that entomologists examined the sample and confirmed it was a juvenile scorpion.
Bleach said the creature was about 1.5cm and in “very poor condition”, which indicated it would not have survived much longer.
“Because it is still in the nymph stage, we need to carry out further testing to determine the exact species,” she said.
“There have been no signs of any others and scorpions are typically lone hitchhikers.
They could survive for many months while hidden away without food, Bleach said.
“The person who found this specimen had travelled to Fiji and Bali earlier this year, and based on its characteristics, this juvenile is likely to be of Fijian origin,” she said.
Recent scorpion sightings
The Ministry for Primary Industries said that since 2018, there had been 10 scorpion detections on our shores.
Five were live and five were dead. The findings were made across New Zealand, mostly in Auckland and Wellington.
The ministry said that most were linked to overseas travel or imported goods, including luggage, clothing, produce and freight.
A live find in Auckland in February last year was associated with imported electronics.
“Exotic scorpions are not established in New Zealand and finds are rare, isolated hitchhikers,” the MPI said.
“New Zealand has no native scorpion species. Native pseudoscorpions are often mistaken for true scorpions.”
A scorpion-like creature was found by travel writer Anna King Shahab. Photo / @lazysusan.nz
MPI manager biosecurity surveillance Nick Ward earlier told the Herald the “hitchhiker pests” were considered a low biosecurity risk.
“Most scorpion species have very specific habitat and climate requirements, often consistently warm, dry environments, which means they can’t easily survive in cooler, wetter climates,” Ward said.
“Scorpions are solitary, not colonial like ants or termites, meaning they usually arrive as individuals.
Behavioural ecologist Dr Leilani Walker told the Herald that after watching the video of the scorpion, “it wasn’t looking very happy”.
The Ministry for Primary Industries is investigating a scorpion like creature. Photo / @lazysusan.nz
“This is not a climate that’s very friendly to scorpions by and large. Most of them, in general, are associated with deserts,” Walker said.
It was not unusual for scorpions to catch a ride in someone’s bag, as well as spiders, beetles and foreign plant material.
“If you throw enough things at the border, occasionally things will come through. Thankfully, in this case, it was a species that was never going to do particularly well here,” Walker said.
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